Football Falls to Saint Mary, 41-28

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College football team closed out its 2017 road slate with a 41-28 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) loss to the University of Saint Mary Saturday at Charles J. Berkel Memorial Stadium.

The Bulldogs (3-5, 2-5 KCAC) got an early leg up on the high-powered Saint Mary passing attack as Daniel Mendenhall (Oklahoma City, Okla., Bishop McGuiness HS) returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. It was a play that almost wasn't, though, as Mendenhall fumbled the initial touch of the ball, but regrouped and zig-zagged his way through the Spires' kick coverage team.

The teams traded punts on their next two drives, but the Spires (4-5, 3-4 KCAC) were able to mount a sustained drive on their second possession, taking the ball all the way to the McPherson 7-yard line before stalling out. Adrian Ruiz-Gonzales came on to attempt a 24-yard field goal but saw his effort sail wide of the uprights.

McPherson was unable to cross midfield on its next possession, but punter RJ Garza (McAllen, Texas, Roma HS) was able to pin Saint Mary inside its own 20. A holding penalty on first down moved the ball back to the USM 11 and Drew Cortez and the Spires offense went to work from there. Cortez threw the ball 12 times on the 17-play, 84-yard drive which, ironically, was capped off by a 1-yard dive from Zach Hilliard with 44 seconds to play in the opening frame.

The Bulldogs countered with a quick 5-play, 70-yard drive that took all of 75 seconds before Jake Tiernan (Solomon, Kan., Solomon HS) found Eman McNeal (Aurora, Colo., Hinkley HS) for a 20-yard touchdown to give McPherson a 14-7 lead. The Bulldogs were aided by a pair of 15-yard penalties against Saint Mary on the drive.

The Spires used another methodical drive to tie the score, marching 65 yards in 16 plays while bleeding over six minutes off the clock. The eighth pass on the drive - a 14-yarder from Cortez to AJ Barnett - set Saint Mary up with a first-and-goal at the 5. Cortez scored on a 1-yard keeper three plays later.

Saint Mary forced McPherson into a three-and-out on the ensuing drive and was able to capitalize after a bad punt snap turned the ball over to the Spires at the McPherson 20. The Spires gained 14 on the first play of the drive to get inside the 10, which was essentially negated by an offensive pass interference call three plays later. Undeterred, Cortez found Tae Turner for a 20-yard TD pass on the next play. The lead would remain at six points, though, as Kevin Garcia's PAT attempt struck the left upright.

Kicking into the wind in the second quarter, the Spires gambled on the ensuing kickoff and recovered a short pooch kick at the McPherson 44. Using the short field to their advantage, Cortez found Bryan Barnhart for a 9-yard touchdown nine plays later to give Saint Mary a 27-14 lead.

McPherson had one final opportunity for points in the first half. Taking over with 1:08 to play, Armond McCray (Wichita, Kan., Coffeyville CC) scampered for 29 yards to move the ball to the USM 23. On the next play, McNeal appeared to have made a dramatic catch in the corner of the end zone, but the Bulldogs were flagged for having an ineligible receiver downfield and the touchdown was negated. After a pair of incomplete passes, McPherson's Jack Reid (Frisco, Texas, Frisco HS) lined up for a 45-yard field goal attempt, which was blocked by Dwain Taylor as time expired.

Saint Mary extended its lead to 34-14 in the third quarter with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Cortez to Isai Fernandez.

Towards the end of the third quarter, Tiernan engineered one of McPherson's longest drives of the season. The Bulldogs moved 62 yards on 14 plays before McCray scored on a 3-yard run. The key play of the drive was a 32-yard completion from Tiernan to Desmond Anderson (Fort Worth, Texas, Crowley HS) that immediately preceded McCray's carry.

The Spires added another Cortez-to-Fernandez touchdown in the fourth quarter, this one from just three yards out, while McPherson provided a late answer as Tiernan hit a wide-open McNeal for an 87-yard TD with just 52 seconds to play. Saint Mary recovered the ensuing onside kick and kneeled out the clock.

Saint Mary racked up 538 yards of offense on a whopping 97 plays compared to McPherson's 327 yards on 59 plays. The majority of the Spires' yards came through the air as Cortez finished 45-of-61 for 455 yards and four touchdowns.

Tiernan was 21-of-45 for 242 yards and two touchdowns in his second career start.

McNeal was Tiernan's big target Saturday, finishing with six catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Anderson added four catches for 54 yards, while Jackson Goodmiller (St. George, Kan., Rock Creek HS) had five catches for 30 yards. Thirteen different Spires caught a pass led by seven for 95 yards from AJ Barnett. Turner added six catches for 72 yards and a touchdown and Fernandez had six catches for 63 yards and two TDs.

Neither team was all that effective on the ground. McPherson finished with an 85-83 edge in rushing yards.

Aided by his 29-yarder, McCray led the Bulldogs on the ground with 40 yards on five carries. Tyrone Campbell (Oakland, Calif., Laney CC) added 27 yards on eight carries and Tiernan managed to finish with 20 yards on six carries.

Rhyler Estenbaum had a game-high 58 yards on 16 carries, while Cortez carried the ball himself 12 times for 17 yards and a core.

The Spires held a 13-minute advantage in time of possession and were 10-of-21 on third-down conversions. McPherson struggled on third down all day, converting just twice in 14 opportunities.

Defensively, Isaac Murphy (Houston, Texas, Cypress Creek HS) led McPherson with nine tackles - all solo stops - while Thomas Lanktree (Magnsa, Utah, Cypress HS) added eight tackles. Isaiah Hill (Santa Maria, Calif., Alan Hancock CC) and Joey Hale (Hutchinson, Kan.) each had a sack, while Alwin Crawford (Roanoke, Texas, Byron Nelson HS) picked off his fifth pass of the season.

Dwain Taylor led Saint Mary with seven tackles (five solo), with two tackles for loss and a blocked kick.

"I'm proud of our guys, but we can't keep falling behind," said head coach Paul Mierkiewicz. We started out with a great special teams play, but then followed it up with a couple of special teams errors that we haven't made all year which made it very difficult for us. Same thing on both offense and defense. We'd do some good things on first and second down and then let it slip away on third down."

"One of the things Jake does well is throw the deep ball," added Mierkiewicz. "He places it in a spot where its catchable - and not just short-catchable. We want to keep doing that because has a good handle on what we want to do in the passing game. We just need to stay the course. We'll need to be ready moving forward, though, with Tabor coming to town next week. Their defensive line is the best in the KCAC, if not the country."

The Bulldogs finish the season with back-to-back home games, first welcoming rival Tabor College next Saturday before ending the year against Sterling on Nov. 11.